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Broncos' Harris has gone from undrafted to starter

CB has made most of time on field

By Mike Klis The Denver Post

Posted:
12/22/2012 10:38:54 PM MST

Updated:
12/22/2012 10:39:16 PM MST

ENGLEWOOD -- All the draft picks had been selected, the lockout had finally ended, the new collective bargaining agreement had just expanded training camp rosters from 80 to 90 players and the Broncos were in a two-hour fury of trying to sign undrafted rookies.

They outbid several teams for Adam Grant by giving the offensive tackle a $12,000 signing bonus. They gave $10,000 bonuses to receivers Mark Dell and Jamel Hamler, running back Mario Fannin and quarterback Adam Weber. Offensive lineman Curt Porter got $5,000, and $3,000 went to cornerback Brandon Bing and linebacker Derek Domino.

The Broncos had just $2,000 remaining in their undrafted rookie budget, and they needed one more cornerback.

Broncos scout Dave Ziegler walked into the office of the team's new head coach with some options. One cornerback had track speed. Another cornerback had some size and went to a big program. Another defensive back was smart and a four-year starter at Kansas.

"I knew I was the last spot," Harris said, laughing as he was reminded of how his NFL career started, "because I got the smallest signing bonus.

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Through a determined competitive spirit in training camp and outstanding special-teams performances in the preseason, Harris went from the unofficial 90th man to "starting" nickel back by Game 7 of his rookie season a year ago.

The next week, the Broncos started a six-game winning streak that carried them to the AFC West title.

The 5-foot-10, 190-poundHarris became the Broncos' starting right cornerback in Game 6 this season, and his two interceptions off Rivers, including a game-clinching interception touchdown return, ignited a nine-game winning streak and another division championship. Harris and the Broncos will try to make it 10 in a row while solidifying a No. 2 playoff seed Sunday when they meet Cleveland Browns at Sports Authority Field at Mile High.

Harris now plays for good money at the NFL minimum, but all that was promised to him was $2,000.

"It didn't last too long, I know that," Harris said, smiling. "I think I got some travel clothes. A PS3 (PlayStation 3), just so I could have something."

Shudder to think what would have happened had the new CBA not bumped training camp rosters from 80 to 90 players. Shudder to think what would have happened if Fox's reflexively preferred speed or size.

"You take the guy with production," Fox said last week. "You want the football player."

Hometown excitement

Bixby, Okla., is a booming suburb of Tulsa. The town's population was about 9,500 in 1990, when Harris was an infant there and is about 21,000 now.

"There's Denver mania in Bixby," said Pat McGrew, Harris' high school football coach. "All the coaches I know, all the players, they all have his jersey and watch him. He brings a part of the NFL to us."

Harris' parents divorced when he was young, and he and younger sister Brittany were raised by their mother, Lisa. Mom worked at the local post office by day, and let her son's coaches know that if the grades weren't kept up, he wouldn't be playing for his AAU basketball team or in the football game.

Harris said he graduated from Bixby High School with a 3.8 grade point average.

"The discipline she provided at home is a big reason Chris is like he is," McGrew said. "You didn't have to worry about Chris. He was as good as his mother."

A receiver and defensive back in high school, Harris was starting cornerback as a freshman at Kansas opposite Aqib Talib, who after that season became a first-round draft pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

At that point, Harris thought he, too, had what it takes to play in the NFL. But by his senior year, his new Jayhawks coach, Turner Gill, moved Harris to safety.

"It was good for the team, because Chris was so smart and he could pretty much tell everybody else where they should be lined up," said Broncos rookie linebacker Steven Johnson, a teammate of Harris' at Kansas. "But it might have hurt Chris a little bit, personally."

"I wasn't rated as a corner anymore. I was rated as a safety," Harris said. "And when you see my height and weight, I'm a corner in waiting."

Before the draft, Harris' agent, Fred Lyles, said several teams were interested in his client. But the draft passed without Harris' name getting called -- and then he had to endure an agonizing summer of waiting for the lockout to end so he could find employment.

"When he came out of college, everything that could go wrong did go wrong," Lyles said.

Lyles and Harris later heard from NFL scouts that when they asked Gill about his senior safety/corner, the Kansas coach would not provide a recommendation. When the lockout finally lifted and teams could finalize their rosters with undrafted free agents, the Broncos were the only team whose interest in Harris didn't waver.

With no other teams bidding on Harris, the Broncos got him cheap. Gill has long since been fired from Kansas, while Harris plays on in Denver.

"He caught our attention through special teams," Fox said. "That's how a lot of guys break through. We still talk about Terrell Davis to our guys here. It's blocking and tackling. It's football."

Legend has it that Davis, a sixth-round pick who went on to become a Super Bowl and league MVP, made the Broncos' 1995 roster after he blew up a returner on kickoff coverage in the final preseason game.

Harris had two tackles on punt coverage during the Broncos' second preseason game of his rookie year against Seattle. When it was time to set their season-opening, 53-man roster, the Broncos kept Harris instead of Perrish Cox, a nine-game starter as a rookie the previous season who was having off-field legal issues and reported to camp overweight.

Taking over as the starter

By season's end of his rookie year, Harris, from his inside nickel position, was shutting down New England star slot receiver Wes Welker. This year, the Broncos were 2-3 when starting right cornerback Tracy Porter couldn't make the trip to San Diego for Game 6 because of illness.

Harris started at right cornerback and came up with his two interceptions in the second half to help the Broncos rally from a 24-0 deficit. The Broncos haven't lost since. And Harris has stayed in the starting lineup.

Last week, the Broncos were up 10-0 but the Baltimore Ravens had first-and-goal at the 4 with 30 seconds left in the first half. Flacco went up to the line acting as if he was going to spike the ball to kill the clock. Instead the quarterback rose and threw left to Anquan Boldin, who was running a sideline pattern in the end zone.

"I was reading (Flacco's) eyes," Harris said.

He stepped in front of Boldin and used those high school receiver hands to pick off the pass at the 2-yard line. Harris raced a team-record 98 yards for a touchdown that turned what might have been a 10-7 game at halftime into a comfortable 17-0 Broncos lead.

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